Hey ho it's me Dan and I am live-baby-live. As much live as in I am no longer talking in retrospect covering old ground with you about what it took to get here and where I am today. We are almost up to date.
But first a quick coverall from the last post in late Feb when I had started walking in shoes. That didn't last long before the pain had kicked back in again and after a visit with the now infamous Dr DS we have agreed to do another surgery, 13? 14? I don't know, but this is a revision surgery and a chance to take tests for infection as well as inject some magic bone stuff, a bone graft.
Post that surgery was a revelation compared to my last ones. Nerve block in first, tonnes of good drugs as the anaesthetic wore off and literally no pain immediately after. Another two weeks of flat out on my back with my leg elevated for 23 out of 24hrs of each day was probably the biggest test.
Funny thing about that surgery was that it happened on my 50th birthday so I spent my 50th starving hungry checked in at 7am alone due to pandemic, and waiting until 4pm for the surgery so that was the most disappointing landmark birthday of my life.
I did have a little evaporation session which is now kinda a nice thing because there is no pain, just blue and pink pixie dust as you evaporate in your bed, or wherever.
So to cover the next bit quick, I'll just fast forward real quick in bight sized chunks. The revision went well, then it started to reverse, so about 30% fusion of the main bones we want to fuse. Post revision, Dr DS brought out the big guns and signed me to a portable ultrasound device called an Exogen, that would be worn for 20ms a day and see him again in 3 months. That was September, so we are almost there.
I did 70 days of exogen while waiting for Dr DS and the next CT Scan to show that everything was going peachy keen, and gradually I got out of the moonboot and started walking almost like a normal person, albeit with a noticeable limp. It was going so well.
We got to the next review which was last Wednesday and the CT Scan revealed that we are very little further ahead than where we were in June.
The bones were still at 30-40% union but despite that I seemed to be walking better and coping better.
Then I don't really know if what happened next was my fault or just inevitable.
But I did go to work for 2 days on my own, so that is a good 7hr day standing, but there was no pain and no swelling and all seemed well.
The next Monday I did build, assemble, and carry quite a bit of stuff as I made an IKEA sliding door wardrobe in our master.
Now that was tricky and suppose I did carry stuff but none of it really caused any big adverse reaction. The first time I remember feeling it was on Monday somewhere though, maybe when I walked the dogs?
Anyway, I can feel that there may be a further break, fracture, chip of bone floating around in there and I am flat out back in pain, back in the moonboot while I wait to Dr DS to see what has happened.
The pain is quite distinctly that of bone touching bone, it is familiar and I recognise it but I can't diagnose it, we have to see what the scans have to say.
So that is where I am at, and we are up to date.
Fourteen maybe fifteen surgeries and I am back in a moonboot and basically stuck at home again to wait it out. They say time waits for no man but let me tell you I can feel the weight of it on me.
No target shooting, no working, very limited walking, and constant pain. It's not as bad as it was, but it is not great either.
I can't help but think about the elephant in the room.
What do I do now?
What's next?
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